Gutter Rake Review: An Easier, Safer Way to Get the Leaves Out

The Product: Gutter RakeThe Price: $9.95, plus $6.95 shipping and handlingThe Claims: 10 times faster and easier than other gutter toolsBuy-O-Meter Rating: 4 out of 5

The Gutter Rake reduces the thing I hate most about cleaning gutters -- watching my husband climb a ladder.

Greg is the gutter rake in our house. And twice a year my heart stops as he climbs the extension ladder, balances on one leg as he reaches for leaves, then climbs down and moves the ladder over six feet to do it all again.

The Gutter Rake, which claims to extend your wingspan up to 32 feet, actually does cut down all that upping and downing and oops-I've-plunged-to-my-death-ing.

And that's worth at least $9.95, plus $6.95 shipping and handling.

The Gutter Rake is a simple, 2-foot piece of plastic with a hook at one end, and a straight scraper at the other.

Twist the Gutter Rake onto a broom handle or extension pole. The scraper grabs leaves and other gutter crud, then the hook pushes debris under and past fastening struts.

I guess it could add 32 feet to your reach, if you fasten the Gutter Rake to a 16-foot pole, although that's a bit much to maneuver from a ladder. But a 5-foot broom handle is manageable and triples your reach. That translates to fewer ladder moves and fewer chances for it to fall through the kitchen window.

The Gutter Rake also makes cleaning gutters obstructed by tree branches easier. Instead of positioning the ladder between branches, Greg parked the ladder 3-feet away from the tree and reached past and under the limbs with the rake.

Is the Gutter Rake 10 times faster than other gutter tools, as it claims?

Nope.

You still have to scrape the leaves, bag the leaves, and move the ladder. Also, the Gutter Rake is about 2-inches wide, while gutters typically are 5-inches wide, which means repeated passes until you clear all the leaves.

But the Gutter Rake does shave time off a dirty and dangerous job that, with a little luck, my husband will do for years to come.